1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a communications network and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for admitting a node to a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional network is comprised of nodes and a router, typically arranged in a hub and spoke formation. A node communicates to another node by transmitting the data to the router, and the router then forwards the data to the destination node. The nodes are unaware of the presence of all the other nodes present on the network, but the router is aware of the presence of all the nodes on the network. The router stores the physical address of all the nodes on the network and facilitates the transmission of data from one node to another.
A node is added to a conventional network by connecting the node to a router. Once the router detects the presence of the new node, the router stores the physical address of the node its memory. The nodes on the network communicate with the newly added node in a conventional manner: data addressed to the new node is transmitted to the router, and the router forwards the data to the physical address stored in memory that is associated with the new node.
In a multi-base station network, where a plurality of user nodes may wirelessly communicate with a base station, the communications protocol is generally a scheduled protocol. Using a scheduled protocol, the base station organizes the communications with each of the user nodes. When a new node requests a connection to the base station, the scheduled communications may be interrupted to process the request. Such an interruption may impact network throughput. In addition, the process to negotiate the admission of a new node may introduce latency into the communication experienced by the existing nodes of the network.
A mesh network differs from a conventional network because there is no central switching point, i.e., a router, to distribute the data within the mesh network. The nodes are aware of the presence of other nodes on the mesh network, and data is transmitted across the mesh network by passing the data through interconnected nodes. Since there is no central switching point to direct traffic on the mesh network, a node must join the mesh network by connecting to nodes that are already a part of the mesh network.
The nodes of a mesh network communicate with one another using specific time slots and communications protocols, i.e., the communications within the network are scheduled. A new node that is to be admitted to the network is unsynchronized with the network and must repeatedly request admission until a node that is currently part of the network recognizes the admission request. Consequently, a new node may wait an inordinate amount of time before being admitted to the network. Furthermore, the existing nodes of the network must interrupt their scheduled communications to process the admission request of a new node. Such interruption can impact the throughput of the network.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved method and apparatus for admitting a node to a communications network.